Some 1,000 bikers are expected to see action in the 6th Tour of the Fireflies in Negros Occidental on Jan. 10.
The latest edition of the advocacy ride, which will pay tribute to the front-liners in the battle against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, will be hosted for the second year in a row by the City of Himamaylan.
This time, it will feature two routes — both for beginners and endurance bikers.
“It is a fitting tribute to our front-liners while protecting human health and the environment from the effects of pollution as well as instilling road safety for the welfare of every community,” Mayor Raymund Tongson said in a statement on his Facebook page on Thursday.
The event, originally scheduled as part of the 16th Provincial Environment Month Festival in November last year, is a collaboration between the host-city, Provincial Environment Management Office (PEMO), and the DENR-Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) in Negros Occidental.
According to the guidelines provided by the PEMO, only 1,000 bikers will be accommodated following the ruling of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), and all participants are required to observe health and safety protocols, particularly the wearing of face mask and social distancing.
Last year, some 4,000 bikers joined the 5th Tour of the Fireflies, traversing the 78-kilometer route from Bacolod to Himamaylan.
This Jan. 10, assembly time is at 5 a.m. while the tour will start at 6 a.m. at Taytay Tanate in Himamaylan City for both routes.
Beginners will bike through the Tanate-Nabalian-Cabanbanan-Libacao-Payao- Cabadiangan-Carabalan route and back while endurance bikers will travel the Tanate-Highway-Carabalan Road-Bulod-Bulod Elementary School route and vice versa.
In Negros Occidental, the advocacy ride for clean air, road sharing, and discipline started five years ago when about 800 bikers converged in the northern town of Manapla.
Every year thereafter, the number of bikers increased until the Covid-19 pandemic limited the number of participants this year.
(Nanette Guadalquiver via Philippine News Agency (PNA), photo courtesy of PNA)